Why You Should Enlist Guest Bloggers

Published May 17, 2012 at 5:21 PM | Updated at 4:36 AM CDT on May 19, 2012

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Okay, I'm going to break the fourth wall quite a bit here since I'm writing about one of the guiding ideas behind Inc. Well: recruiting guest bloggers to help supply content that supports the site. That this site recently celebrated its first birthday and is going strong is a testament to the fact that this is a method that works. A post over at Inbound Marketing Blog Hubspot breaks down why, from the point of the view of the potential contributor:

I'll get my article published on a blog that aligns with my expertise, and through careful optimization of the anchor text and pages I link to within the post, I'll have control over a few inbound links that will help boost the search engine optimization of the pages I'm linking back to on my website. I may attract some immediate new traffic and subscribers in the process, but the true benefit will be from the long-term search traffic I'll generate!

Not only that, but there are some hidden benefits that don't need to be articulated but are mighty compelling if they are, like, that all inbound links are supremely targeted. In other words, if people are Googling for a topic you're writing about, not only are they likely to click through on your article, but they might follow through to your site, too. Or as Hubspot says, "People are using search engines to find solutions to their problems." And that's true, whether it's why you should enlist guest bloggers for your site or just find an absorbent sponge.

There are other reasons, too, like the results -- or traffic -- definitely scale over time. The upshot of contributing guest articles, for people who write for sites like this one, is pretty attractive because it's like a little ad for your company that will sit on that website until we're all part of time immemorial.

There's way, way, way more over on that site and as someone who edits pieces from guest contributors let me just say: every word of this is absolutely true. And if you're thinking of dipping your toe in and pitching sites, if you're a publicist or an entrepreneur, read it first before you send a single email on the topic.

Your editor will thank you.

David Wolinsky is a freelance writer and a lifelong Chicagoan. In addition to currently serving as an interviewer-writer for Adult Swim, he's also a columnist for EGM. He was the Chicago city editor for The Onion A.V. Club where he provided in-depth daily coverage of this city's bustling arts/entertainment scene for half a decade. When not playing video games for work he's thinking of dashing out to Chicago Diner, Pizano's, or Yummy Yummy. His first career aspirations were to be a game-show host.